Week 10 Weekly Preview

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Week 10 Weekly Preview

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​RACE TO PLAYOFFS
INTENSIFIES IN NFL’S SECOND HALF

The second half
of the NFL season is here and the race to the playoffs is in full swing.

Three teams –
the KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (8-1), LOS ANGELES RAMS (8-1) and NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (7-2) – have a
record of 7-2 or better entering Week 10 and the NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (7-1), which had its bye in Week 6, will reach
either 8-1 or 7-2 following this week’s action. In the Super Bowl era, 216
teams have begun the season either 8-1 or 7-2 through nine games and 194 of
those teams advanced to the postseason (89.8 percent). Sixty-one of the 216
teams reached the Super Bowl in their respective seasons.

As the season
moves into the second half, there is plenty of football left to play and
nothing has been decided. Since 2000, 45 teams have reached the halfway
point of their season with a .500 or below winning percentage and advanced to
the playoffs, including at least one in each season. Last year, the ATLANTA FALCONS began the season at 4-4
before advancing to the postseason with a 10-6 record.

Four teams are
currently riding winning streaks of at least five games – New Orleans (seven
consecutive games), Houston (six), New England (six) and the Los Angeles
Chargers (five). The Texans, which began the season 0-3, are the second team
since 1970 to win six consecutive games immediately following an 0-3 start,
joining the 1970 New York Giants.

As the schedule
turns to Week 10, history is on the horizon for veteran and young quarterbacks
alike. New England quarterback TOM BRADY
will play in his 300th career game (including the postseason) on Sunday at
Tennessee (1:00 PM ET, CBS), joining Pro Football Hall of Famer BRETT FAVRE (326) as the only
quarterbacks to appear in 300 career games across the regular season and
playoffs. Brady, who has thrown 576 touchdown passes through 299 career
games (including the postseason), can surpass PEYTON MANNING (579) for the most touchdown passes by a
quarterback in NFL history.

Brady (505
regular-season touchdown passes) and New Orleans quarterback DREW BREES (506), who plays at
Cincinnati on Sunday (1:00 PM ET, FOX), enter Week 10 within reach of Favre(508) for second place on the NFL’s
all-time passing touchdown leaderboard. Only Manning (539) has more career
touchdown passes in the regular season.

Kansas City
quarterback PATRICK MAHOMES has 29
touchdown passes and 3,185 passing yards in 10 career games, both the most
by a quarterback in his first 10 games in NFL history. Mahomes, who has
passed for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns in each of the Chiefs’ past
four games, can join Pro Football Hall of Famer STEVE YOUNG (1998) as the only players in NFL history with at
least 300 passing yards and three touchdown passes in five consecutive games.

Below are
highlights of the Week 10 schedule:

Week 10 kicks
off on Thursday night as the CAROLINA
PANTHERS visit the PITTSBURGH
STEELERS at Heinz Field (8:20 PM ET, FOX/NFL Network/Amazon Prime).
Pittsburgh enters Thursday’s contest as the winner of four consecutive games,
while Carolina has won three straight games. Steelers running back JAMES CONNER has rushed for at least
100 yards in each of his past four games and can join Pro Football Hall of
Famers FRANCO HARRIS (six
consecutive games in 1972) and JEROME
BETTIS (five in 1996) as the only players in franchise history with 100+
rushing yards in five consecutive games. Panthers quarterback CAM NEWTON has thrown at least two
touchdown passes in seven consecutive games, tied with STEVE BEUERLEIN for the longest streak in franchise history, and
aims for his fourth game in a row with two touchdown passes, no interceptions
and a 100+ passer rating.

The NEW ORLEANS SAINTS, winners of seven
consecutive games,travel to Paul
Brown Stadium to take on the CINCINNATI
BENGALS on Sunday afternoon (1:00 PM ET, FOX). Saints running back ALVIN KAMARA, who has 1,218 rushing
yards and 1,253 receiving yards in 24 career games, can join HERSCHEL WALKER (­­­­­1,339 rushing,
1,394 receiving) as the only players in NFL history with at least 1,300 rushing
and receiving yards in his first 25 career games. Bengals rookie safety JESSIE BATES leads Cincinnati with 60
tackles and is one of two players in the NFL (KIKO ALONSO) with at least 60 tackles and three interceptions
(three) in 2018.

RUSSELL WILSON and the Seahawks visit TODD GURLEY and the Rams at the Los
Angeles Memorial Coliseum (4:25 PM ET, CBS). Since Week 5, Wilson ranks second
in the NFL with a 126.4 passer rating and third in the league with 11 touchdown
passes. Gurley leads the NFL with 16 touchdowns (12 rushing, four receiving)
and has scored a touchdown in each of the Rams’ nine games in 2018. With a
touchdown on Sunday, Gurley can become the fourth player in league annals to
score at least one touchdown in each of his team’s first 10 games of a season.